Another F-35 Trainwreck?
Maybe not. But the Christian Science Monitor is reporting that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme might be running into some more problems. Recently, the Brits threatened to pull out of the quarter trillion dollar project over technology sharing issues. Though that seems to be on track to resolution - both sides having reported "extremely productive" talks in negotiations - there is a something else on the radar screen.
UAE owned holding firm Dubai International Capital bought Doncasters, a privately held British aerospace manufacturer, in a deal worth $1.2 billion. That company is involved with the F-35, and another congressional investigation could cause yet another row. I think that this is another case of a (relatively) innocent company being guilty of little more than "driving while arab." There is reason to be cautious about our secrets and all, but if this busts out into a minor scale controversy, you can be sure that it is much more likely to be about some hack politician's reelection chances than about a legitimate security concern. And if it pisses off the Brits, that's a damn shame, because we couldn't ask for a better ally, and should be doing all that we can to include them in, not acting like they're our wierd bug-eyed cousin wanting to borrow twenty-grand for a fur bearing trout farm.
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I have to tell you, B, we're
I have to tell you, B, we're not exactly batting 1000 in the allied public diplomacy department.
Poland does not have a sense of humor about the US visa policy, and feels slighted. The UAE of course had to bow out of that weird and public row over ports- or something. And now we need to piss off the Brits too? And over this?
Maybe I should have been
Maybe I should have been slightly more clear. The Brits won't necessarily be any more pissed about the F-35 because of the the Dubai thing. They were pissed because we weren't sharing technology needed for them to hold up their end of the deal, design wise. They feel, rightly I think, that British defense industries should not be subject to the same restrictions as say, France, Russia, China or whoever. The concern on the American side - not entirely without justification - is that tech passed to the brits would then get passed to the French, who would sell it to anyone. That's what almost caused the Brits to bail.
Look - the issue is that
Look - the issue is that advanced US tech is going to a country that won't give us a guarantee that this tech will be protected. This issue can be solved by the Brits agreeing to protect the tech - a very simple solution. Did we raise a big stink about not being able to share the secret of their Chobham armor with world + dog?
MakeMineRed
Yep - if the Brits can't
Yep - if the Brits can't assure us that our technology won't end up in French hands (and in the Chinese seconds later), farewell. Good luck with your new French fighters. Hope they are more reliable than their cars.